The Importance of Safety in a Boarding School
"Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent" ~ Anonymous
After the recent cases we have come across, all parents have the concern of whether it would be a right decision to send their child to a boarding school. For a parent, making any decision is utmost important as it will eventually affect the child. But now, what makes a parent more thoughtful are the circumstances that are changing in and out of the country.
When sending your child to a boarding school becomes an option, there are many factors to be looked upon, and in particular, safety for all the obvious reasons. To ensure the student’s safety, all the boarding schools around the world are under enormous pressure. Parents are placing greater demands on their children’s accountability, and that is why it is more important than ever for boarding schools to have a reliable system to track every student’s movement.
Parents want the best for their child and a safe learning environment is something that hits their list. Without security in place, the students around would face mental disturbance that would lead to failure in academics. School safety is not only important in terms of academics but is also important to protect all students from any kind of violence that can include assaults, bullying, victimization, classroom disorder, fights, robbery, and use of weapons or sexual misconduct.
Safety in schools plays an important role in the academic success of each child, giving them the confidence to learn and achieve in a safe and nurturing environment. The strict policies in the school about safety help in more learning and decrease the level of violence and increases the pro-social behavior.
Jain International Residential School (JIRS) has ranked no.1 in safety and security, according to the Education World C-fore survey 2017. The infrastructure of JIRS is designed to handle all aspects of co-education learning and boarding environment. In India, safety is of prime concern for parents especially if they are thinking of sending their girl child to a residential school.
At JIRS, special care has been undertaken to ensure that our girl students are accommodated protectively and are comfortable in all respects during their stay in school. JIRS has a reliable security system with professional security personnel, a completely fenced campus, 24/7 guard duty and watchdogs are in place to safeguard the sprawling campus. The security guards are deployed in key areas under the supervision of chief security officer.
Keeping all the man-made and natural disasters happening in mind, JIRS has the security enforced by manning all vulnerable areas and points such as the dormitory, in or out gates, electrical installations and vehicle parking areas. Area and perimeter patrolling by security guards during after-hours ensure the security of the area. In JIRS there are security alarms and walkie-talkie unit and all the security personnel deployed has a walkie-talkie with them. This helps them in coordinating with each other in case of emergencies.
The concept of boarding schools in India has changed, with respect to numerous factors in regard to the quality of education, discipline, teaching methodology, student-teacher relationship, and security. Children’s safety within the school premises is also very important. School safety is important because, in order for any learning to take place, a child has to feel that he or she is in a safe environment. If they are focused on other fearful issues, they could care less about what is being taught in the classroom.
School staff and parents need to take all precautions. It is necessary for parents to make their children understand that if they recognize any inappropriate behavior going on, they need to let an adult know immediately. Parents and teachers also need to explain that violence is never the answer to problems they may encounter. The kids need to have no hesitation in asking questions with any concerns they have at school or in life.
However, in all circumstances, a child should always be comfortable in reaching out an adult, be it a parent or mentor.
